China criticises Hong Kong firm’s sale of majority stake in Panama ports

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Admin

Commentary urged CK Hutchison to ‘think twice’ about ‘what position and side they are on’ in sale to US investors

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China has criticised the sale of the business that controls ports in Panama to US investors, saying the Hong Kong-based parent company should “think twice” and that the $22.8bn deal is “power politics” that is not in the country’s national interest.

Shares in the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison fell more than 6% on Friday after a critical commentary appeared in the Beijing-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao in Hong Kong.

US-Panama relationship was ‘very strong’. Then Trump upended the diplomatic playing board

Posted on February 7, 2025 by Admin

US had made inroads against Chinese influence in Panama, but Trump’s demands could help Beijing expand its regional power

When Panama’s then president Juan Carlos Varela was invited to the White House in June 2017, Donald Trump said the Panama canal was doing “pretty well” and described the bilateral relationship as “very strong”.

Just days earlier, Varela had broken ties with Taiwan to establish diplomatic relations with China, but there was no indication that this snub to a key US ally had clouded the meeting.

Panama court is asked to cancel Hong Kong firm’s contract to run canal ports

Posted on February 4, 2025 by Admin

Complaint by local lawyers to supreme court follows US demands to reduce China’s alleged influence on waterway

Trump says China is ‘operating’ the Panama canal – here are the facts

Two Panamanian lawyers have lodged a lawsuit with the country’s supreme court in an attempt to cancel a Hong Kong-based company’s concession to operate two ports at either end of the Panama canal.

Their complaint – filed a day after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, told Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, to reduce China’s alleged influence on the canal – argues that the contract for the two ports is unconstitutional.

Panama will not discuss control of canal during Rubio visit, president says

Posted on January 30, 2025 by Admin

José Raúl Mulino rules out talks on waterway with secretary of state: ‘That is sealed. The canal belongs to Panama’

Trump says China is ‘operating’ the Panama canal – here are the facts

Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, has ruled out discussing control over the Panama Canal in a meeting with the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who is set to visit the Central American country in his first official trip abroad this weekend.

Mulino’s comments during a weekly press conference come after Donald Trump threatened to take control of the canal, claiming it is being operated by China. The Panamanian government strongly denies the accusation.